


Spider-Bite

by ashinae, cruisedirector



Category: Master and Commander (movie), Master and Commander - All Media Types
Genre: Age of Sail, Bugs & Insects, Community: perfect_duet, Established Relationship, Fear, Friendship/Love, Humor, M/M, Romance, Sexual Content, Spiders, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-02-26
Updated: 2004-02-26
Packaged: 2017-10-05 13:10:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashinae/pseuds/ashinae, https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruisedirector/pseuds/cruisedirector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The doctor's study of arachnids causes the captain to overreact.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spider-Bite

**Author's Note:**

> It's Patrick O'Brian's fault that Jack is afraid of snakes, bees and spiders. It's not his fault that Jack and Stephen are violating the Articles of War in this story, though.

From the time Stephen boarded after going ashore to study the wildlife, Jack felt a vague unease distracting him from the familiar quiet of the anchored ship. The doctor had arrived for dinner full of unaccustomed conviviality, entering into a discussion with several officers about the forest habitats of insects. It was less a conversation, perhaps, than a lecture, but he was in very good spirits; and when the others had left the cabin, and the table been cleared away, and Stephen took Jack's hand with an unexpected smile, the captain was finally able to put a name to his foreboding.

"Stephen," he said. "The last time I saw you display such enthusiasm, you had just brought a colony of ants onto my ship."

That Stephen only smiled more broadly and lifted Jack's hand, brushing a kiss inside his wrist before releasing it, confirmed Jack's suspicions. "Not that I wish to sound as if I am complaining, but it's not like you to be so affectionate," he continued. "You haven't brought anything dangerous on board, have you?"

"No. Not dangerous," Stephen replied, moving closer to Jack in a distinctly amorous manner, which served to make Jack more concerned, pausing in the midst of an automatic response to the embrace.

"But you did bring something on board." Stephen did not reply, instead moving an arm across Jack's shoulders, and Jack forced himself to draw back. "Stephen. What have you transported onto my ship?"

Because he had buried his nose in Jack's hair, which tickled and caused Jack to shiver, Stephen did not answer at once. When he did, his reply was careless. "Oh. Spiders."

"Spiders!" The prickle along Jack's scalp felt suddenly intolerable, and he leaped back, tugging at his hair. The abrupt movement caused Stephen to fall backward, landing on his bottom on the deck. "Where are they?"

Wincing, Stephen looked up at him. "Jack, they are perfectly harmless." But Jack was tearing at his collar and struggling with his sleeves, suddenly itching all over.

"Where did you put them?" he demanded. "How will you keep them out of the ship's stores? How will the men be able to sleep with spiders loose on the deck? This is worse than the bees!"

Stephen blinked owlishly, and for a moment Jack had the distinct impression that his friend was trying not to laugh. "There are only two spiders, and they are in my cabin. And you need not worry: they are both male. I made certain that they would not breed and cause havoc; you know how many offspring spiders can produce at once."

The benign smile Stephen offered as he rose to his feet did nothing to improve Jack's temper, nor did his next words. "Moreover, they are quite large. You would know at once if one was crawling under your clothes."

"How large?" gulped Jack. Stephen held his hands apart the length of his thumb, making Jack's eyes bulge. "Stephen! Why would you bring two enormous spiders onto my ship? What can you possibly learn from studying the behavior of two spiders, separated from their natural habitat, from others of their kind and from females..."

Stephen regarded him for a moment, then sighed. "What would you have me do, dump them overboard?"

"I simply don't understand what you could possibly hope to accomplish," Jack reiterated. "Stephen, when you brought the bees on board, the entire ship was in an uproar! Imagine if we had been attacked while they were loose."

"On reflection, bees could perhaps become dangerous in such a situation," Stephen said reasonably. "But my spiders are harmless. Their bites do not even cause a man to itch."

There was only one part of this statement that Jack heard. "They bite?"

"Only when provoked."

Jack Aubrey straightened his back and attempted to recover his dignity, despite the clothing he had pulled askew while searching for hidden insects. In a firm voice, he demanded, "Tell Bonden to take you in one of the boats. Row back to shore and leave them there." Stephen looked distressed, but did not argue further as he turned to leave. With a sigh of relief, Jack added, "When you return, we shall have coffee and perhaps we might play together."

Stephen forced a little smile in return, though his sour look remained. As he went off to collect his spiders, Jack removed his handkerchief and mopped at his brow, unfurling it so that it brushed against his neck. Something tickled over his chin.

With a cry Jack leapt into the air, so loudly that Stephen rushed back into the room upon hearing. "Jack? What happened?"

Flinging his handkerchief at Stephen, Jack shouted, "Spider!" Somehow Stephen did not seem terribly concerned that his creatures had escaped as he inspected the handkerchief, holding it up to show Jack that there was nothing crawling upon it. But Jack was distracted, shaking out his hair and trying to tear off his shirt. "I don't know where it went!" he cried.

With a sigh, Stephen said soothingly, "Dear Jack, calm down. You will only alarm it." Just then the door opened a crack and Killick stuck his head inside, grumbling that he had heard a scream. Stephen took a moment to explain that he had brought spiders on board, which caused Killick to shake his head and mutter something. Ignoring the doctor entirely, he promised the captain that no one would come near the cabin until they had caught and disposed of the foul beast.

Closing the door behind Killick, Stephen approached Jack, taking his hands and placing them carefully at his sides. He then ran his fingers through Jack's hair and around his neck, finding no arachnids, while Jack stood squirming and tugging his shirt free from his trousers. "Hush," Stephen said sternly, helping to remove the shirt, which he inspected thoroughly and placed over the back of the nearest chair. "There is no spider here," he reported with a little smile, running hands along Jack's bare chest and arms before moving around to inspect his back.

Jack shuddered, feeling the imprint of Stephen's fingers on his skin long after they had moved, and, worse, feeling the invisible legs of the spider crawling up into his hair and down into his smallclothes where no bite could possibly be as painless as Stephen claimed. "Find it!" he cried in great distress.

"Hush, my dear. Stay calm." Stephen dropped to his knees and lifted first one foot, then the other, pulling off Jack's boots and shaking them upside down. He then reached up and tugged at Jack's trousers, pulling them off his legs to shake them out. When nothing came forth to fly across the cabin, he glanced inquiringly up at Jack.

Biting back another shudder, Jack forced himself to remain still, though he was quite certain that he could feel the spider first moving up his thigh, then crawling around his ear. In the second instance he slapped at it, but the moisture that came away on his fingers was only his own trickling sweat, not the blood of a crushed arachnid. "Stephen!" he pleaded again.

"Jack," Stephen repeated quite calmly, "there is no spider here."

Jack stepped back to inspect his arms and legs, running his fingers through the loose hair on his head and combing through the wiry curls elsewhere on his body. He could not find the large spider which Stephen had described earlier, but he was certain that something had been moving on his skin, raising the gooseflesh that now covered him.

Stephen stared up at him, one hand resting on the back of Jack's knee. "Please calm down, Jack, before you have an apoplexy. Are you feeling better now?" He stood again, and let his hand rest over Jack's heart. "Ah, no, not yet." With an unhappy smile, he swallowed and stepped back. "Must I maroon my spiders, then?"

Jack swallowed too, attempting to nod, though his hand had come to rest on Stephen's arm and clutched at him foolishly. How ridiculous Stephen must think him, to be so afraid of a spider! He tried to speak, but his voice came out as high as a boy's, and his face turned red.

Stephen's other hand rose to trace the line of Jack's jaw. "My dear Jack," he said, very fondly, then kissed Jack's cheek where his fingers had just been. Belatedly Jack recognized that he was not only ridiculous but undressed past the point of modesty, with his rebellious flesh responding most inappropriately to Stephen's subtle touch. Gasping, he tried to step back, but his legs had no power to move.

The doctor did not move either, standing entirely too close, and he seemed to be trying to say something, though words quickly failed him. His eyes strayed down to Jack's mouth, and his fingers slid through Jack's hair once more. Jack found that his hands were no more obedient than his legs; one clasped Stephen's free arm firmly about the wrist, holding him in place, while the other moved to Stephen's chin, compelling his head up until his gaze returned to Jack's.

The pale eyes had grown dark. Jack was not certain that he recognized their expression, for although it was not the coldness of Stephen's anger, it made him shiver. Suddenly Stephen leaned toward him and spoke: "Jack..." He paused a moment, with color rising to his cheeks.

His apparent distress affected Jack in kind. Swallowing, he found his voice and said, unhappily, "Oh, very well, you may keep your spiders, if they are so very important to you."

Jack regretted the words as soon as they were out, but Stephen smiled warmly and whispered, "Thank you," clasping him close. There was no hiding his arousal from Stephen, nor his embarrassment, but at least Stephen was pleased with him again. Jack nodded stiffly, dropping his own gaze, which fell upon the clothes scattered at his feet and around the cabin. Perhaps, he thought, a bit of levity was in order.

"Come, I knew there was never an insect here," he blustered. "I only thought to see if you would undress me looking for it." Stephen's smile broadened as Jack's fingers traced over his cheekbone. His eyes had lowered, and again Jack formed the impression that Stephen was looking at his mouth, which twitched as if a phantom insect had skittered across it.

There was no moment of decision to close the distance between them, and Jack was scarcely aware, at first, when he replaced the imagined spider with the pressure of Stephen's lips against his own. Stephen's hand came up to rest on the back of Jack's neck as he leaned toward him, kissing him tenderly, yet as Stephen's fingers moved beneath his hair, Jack could not keep himself from jumping slightly. He blushed scarlet again, certain that Stephen did not believe his lie about never having thought there was a spider in the cabin.

Rather than trying to explain himself, he tugged at Stephen, pulling his shirt free from his trousers to touch the skin beneath it. Stephen gasped, arching toward him and then relaxing, which encouraged Jack's hand higher, at which Stephen let out a noise distinctly like a choked-back moan. His mouth touched Jack's again as his fingers tangled in Jack's hair.

Stephen's lips remained parted, and Jack could not keep from tasting them, still bitter with coffee and the cigar Stephen had smoked earlier, yet irresistible to him. His arm flattened against Stephen's back, sliding up between his shoulders, while his other hand moved from Stephen's face to pluck at his neck-cloth. Tentatively, Stephen's tongue touched Jack's, and then again, more boldly. He sighed softly and helped Jack with the neck-cloth, dropping it to the floor of the cabin.

"I am quite warm," he confessed, and unbuttoned his shirt.

Jack helped Stephen remove his clothing at speed, pulling him at the same time from the great cabin toward his sleeping quarters. He caught his jacket and trousers on his feet as he shuffled across the deck, kicking them ahead of him, smiling to think at what Killick would say if he saw such treatment of the uniform. But if Killick were to come in and see the clothes scattered about, Jack knew that he would be in graver danger than merely receiving a lecture.

Wrapping his arms around Jack's neck, Stephen kissed him with sudden fervor. "Jack?" he gasped. "Dear Jack."

It surprised him to hear Stephen sound so urgent. "A moment, my dear," Jack whispered as he pushed the clothing behind the temporary bulkhead, then nudged Stephen ahead of him. He did not have his stockings, but it would not be the first time he left them carelessly on the floor. Stephen reached out quickly for his hands, pulling him close. He appeared, once again, to be trying to speak, but instead he simply kissed Jack again.

Rather than trying to fit them both into his hammock, Jack flung his blankets and pillows to the floor. He groaned as they sank down, his blood suddenly loud in his ears and hot in his loins. Pressing against him, Stephen moaned softly, his mouth moving over Jack's neck, pressing little kisses along his chest. His hand fumbled along his arm, finding Jack's fingers and lifting them to his mouth.

The pressure of Stephen's lips and tongue was sweet torment, a sensation that traveled directly to Jack's prick. Writhing, he thrust his forefinger in and out of Stephen's mouth, feeling his hips tighten in the same rhythm. Stephen closed his eyes and moaned again around Jack's finger, sliding his hand across Jack's belly, and lower, wrapping around his prick. He opened his eyes again to watch Jack's face as he began to stroke him.

Jack rolled closer to Stephen, intending to touch him in kind, but his hand clenched and shook against Stephen's side as he fumbled, struggling to maintain control of himself. "Stephen," he groaned quietly, ever conscious of the need for discretion. Stephen released his finger to kiss him, sucking on Jack's lip for a moment. His other hand groped for Jack's, drawing it along his body to his prick. "Touch me, love," he whispered. Surging against Stephen, Jack bit back a cry; he forced himself to hold still until he could trust his hand to move as gently as Stephen was moving upon him.

Stephen's prick felt hot against his palm and jerked as if it had its own desires, harder and more insistent than Stephen's maddeningly steady strokes. Groaning again, Jack shifted his legs, pressing more of himself against Stephen's body. With a soft cry, Stephen let his hips swing forward, thrusting himself into Jack's hand. Yet his fingers did not move any faster on Jack's prick, instead keeping their maddening rhythm, and when his lips descended upon Jack's once more, their touch was feather-light and teasing.

Jack rose to meet him, thrusting his tongue into Stephen's mouth with a force he dared not allow his hips. Twisting, he brought his prick alongside Stephen's and nudged the head against the hot shaft, calling out as he slid against him. With a gasp Stephen thrust helplessly, his head tilting back. "Oh," he murmured, "Jack!"

Jack leaned in, trying to capture Stephen's lips again to keep them both silent, crushing their bodies together with the motion. They were both damp with sweat, moving easily against one another, and the heat and pressure only added to the tension coiling inside him. Rocking against him, Stephen gasped and moaned softly. He finally moved to accommodate Jack's desire for a kiss, moaning again into his mouth as a shudder ran through his body.

Jack went still for a moment at the feel of hot fluid dripping on his skin; his prick was throbbing, aching for release, and yet he did not want to rush this moment, listening to Stephen make that tremulous sound of pleasure. But his hips jerked upward until Stephen stilled against him, letting out a shuddering sigh. "Slowly, joy, else I cannot last," he said softly. Jack did not think that he could speak, moving a hand to touch Stephen's lips, watching as Stephen kissed his fingertips and smiled.

Jack smiled as well, though his lips remained parted, panting, as he fought to regain the control he had very nearly lost; his eyes fell shut momentarily and he moaned. Leaning forward, Stephen kissed his forehead, then tilted his head to kiss Jack's shoulder, slipping an arm around his chest. Smiling again, Jack lowered his face to Stephen's damp hair. "You're so very warm," he murmured.

"So are you," Stephen replied, stroking his arm. "Warm and wonderfully comfortable."

"I was made to run away from a spider," Jack reminded him. His fingers had found an upraised bump on Stephen's skin. "Is this a bite?" Stephen glanced down to follow Jack's hand, and he nodded.

"Indeed it is. You see those two small marks?"

"Stephen," said Jack as calmly as he could, ignoring the question. "If you are going to keep those damn things on my ship, I want them kept in a cage beneath two layers of netting. And I want your word that they will not be allowed out during this cruise, not one single time."

"Not even on my desk?"

"Oh, on your desk," began Jack indulgently. "Why, of course, like the bees, I am confident that they will obey your instructions to remain where you put them, and you certainly would never become distracted and lose track of where they might have gone while you were looking up an explanation for their puzzling insect-like behavior in one of your books."

"I promise, upon my honor, to be diligent in my care and attention towards them." A sly grin spread across Stephen's face. "Why, I would even sleep with them cradled to my chest."

"You want to sleep with spiders cradled to your chest?" cried Jack. "I had no idea. Am I keeping you from your beloved insects even now?"

Stephen laughed delightedly, leaning up to kiss him. "Dear Jack," he said, "there is only one creature on this ship that I want to have cradled to my chest as I sleep." He brushed a strand of hair from Jack's face and smiled.

"Well, Stephen, that is very reassuring, but I am still bitterly jealous," Jack sighed. "Because I assure you, I will never set foot in your sick-bay with those monsters loose. What if we was to beat to quarters while they crawled free? They might be trampled, or frighten a sailor into falling to his death!"

"I assure you, I will be very careful."

Jack sighed, defeated. "Very well, but should you come in here with one of the things crawling on your clothing, I will throw it to the floor and step on it without so much as a by-your-leave." Stephen gasped, bringing a hand up to his chest in feigned shock. "And then I will throw you to the floor, and woe to you."

Stephen licked his lip and gave him a coy look. "And what, my dear, would you have in mind?"

"Why, you know that I cannot discuss the secrets of my command, including my disciplinary tactics," Jack replied with a gleam in his eye.

"Discipline?" Stephen echoed. "Do you plan to flog me?"

"I shall not tell you," Jack insisted, gathering a blanket beneath his arm and raising onto an elbow. "No, you must mind your spiders and hope never to learn."

Stephen leaned up towards him and licked his lower lip. "For all love, please tell me." The feel of Stephen's tongue against Jack's mouth was sufficient to distract him from conversation, and he parted his lips, pressing Stephen down into the blankets with his kiss. By the time he drew back, he has forgotten the question, though something was tickling at the base of his spine and he swatted at the spot before remembering the spiders and jerking forward.

"Jack?" Stephen blinked up at him, startled to have the kiss broken.

"If you are going to let your beasts disturb my peace of mind, then you had best be prepared to find me distracted," Jack insisted, though without any coldness, for he was still warm and content.

"Oh, dear joy, this won't do at all." Stephen pushed Jack down onto the blankets again and knelt above him, tenderly rubbing his hands over Jack's arms and his chest as he bent to kiss him. Jack made a pleased noise and stretched under Stephen's hands, meeting his mouth eagerly. "So very handsome," murmured Stephen, sliding down Jack's legs as his hands moved over his chest, his sides. A quiet laugh escaped Jack, for only Stephen among any man he had known would think to use the word "handsome" to describe the scarred body of a man who had spent his life at sea and in battle.

"You have peculiar ideas even for a man too long away from women," he said, stretching and sighing again Stephen's touch. Stephen hushed him, much as he had done when he was searching for the spider, and he leaned forward to nuzzle the patch of hair on Jack's chest. It should have tickled uncomfortably, but Jack was quite aroused, and left his arms bent loosely overhead as he kissed the top of Stephen's head.

Stephen made a noise akin to a purr, and moved his mouth to Jack's nipple, flicking his tongue across it. That did tickle, and sent a new spark of pleasure into Jack's loins. "Stephen -- " he gasped, feeling his urgency return.

"Mmm?" responded Stephen, ducking his head to suck. One of Jack's hands came forward to cradle Stephen's head, while the other slid down his back, stroking the skin and the curious scars there. Jack knew better than to ask how these were acquired, and simply ran his fingertips over the ridge of a particularly thick one. Squirming, Stephen increased the tender pressure of his mouth.

"Handsome indeed," Jack echoed, arching his back underneath. Stephen's hands were so very skilled, and it had been long since he had basked in this indulgence. His hand slipped around Stephen's side, brushing across his chest in turn. When Stephen lifted his hand to Jack's mouth, tracing a light fingertip over his lips, Jack's tongue sucked the finger in.

Stephen bit his lip, staring up at Jack. "Love," he whispered, and lowered his head to Jack's chest once more, kissing him shamelessly. The fingers tasted faintly bitter from the fluid that had leaked upon them, and Jack's lip curled until he had sucked the traces away. The salt of unwashed skin did not trouble him, but it still seemed unwise to him for a man to swallow another man's seed, despite Stephen's assurances that the spend contained nothing dangerous and in fact might be beneficial. Stephen, he thought fondly, was quite ready to persuade himself on this matter.

Stephen moved up again until they were nose to nose, and he smiled down at Jack for a moment before kissing him. "I feel as though there is so much I should say, and yet I cannot think of a single word," he said softly.

"But you've just said it, love," Jack smiled back.

Stroking his cheek, Stephen kissed him again. "Yes, I suppose I did." Jack tilted his head up to him, rocking beneath him at the same time so that his legs fell to the side. This was a dangerous position -- no way at all to pretend that Stephen was practicing medicine upon him, should anyone burst in -- but the sea was so very still, and the ship echoing with the regular sounds of a calm afternoon.

Stephen sighed softly, his hips thrusting against Jack's, and shivered. Innocently Jack pushed back against him. "You seem to have been maddened by an insect bite," he observed with a laugh.

"Oh," Stephen gasped, thrusting again. "Indeed, it would seem that I have." Jack grunted slightly at the pressure of Stephen's body against his own, but he was a larger man than Stephen, and, bracing a foot against the floor, could keep them from sliding noisily about. "Do you suppose the symptoms are contagious, doctor?"

Tangling fingers in Jack's hair, Stephen returned to kissing him, slipping his tongue past Jack's lips to explore his mouth comprehensively. Several moments later, he pulled back and groaned. "It -- it might indeed."

"You feel so very good, Stephen," Jack sighed, aroused past the ability to make mockery of it. His hips canted upward, pressing his prick into Stephen's abdomen, and his hands clutched at his shoulders. "Do you want me on my belly?"

"Jack," whispered Stephen, "yes, Jack." With one more kiss, he pulled away to give Jack room enough to move, then covered his back, kissing across his shoulder. Jack stretched comfortably on the blankets spread on the deck, bending his knees in anticipation. His hair was wet and sticking to his own skin but he tried to shake it back, for Stephen seemed to enjoy touching it.

"Have what you want," he whispered.

One hand slipped under Jack's body to stroke his belly and chest, coming teasingly close to touching his prick again and again. Above him, Stephen sucked on his own fingers, then after several moments, a skilled finger was rubbing lightly over the opening to Jack's body while Stephen kissed him and rubbed his cheek against Jack's hair.

Despite his need, Jack's legs still felt heavy and tired beneath him, and he was glad to have Stephen moving upon him; he rested his head on his arm and made a small noise of pleasure. Stephen's finger stretched him open and was soon sliding slowly within him. "Please tell me if I hurt you," Stephen murmured and pushed forward with another finger. The pressure grew uncomfortably grating without the use of oil, and Jack's head lifted momentarily, indicating the hanging lantern.

"Would that help?"

"Oh!" Stephen cried. "In my eagerness I was not thinking." Pressing a kiss to the small of Jack's back, Stephen rose to fetch the lantern, then returned to slide his fingers once again into Jack, this time much more easily. Smiling, Stephen returned his other hand to Jack's belly, straying ever so close to his prick.

Despite his stillness Jack was groaning quietly, muffling his voice against his own arm. "Stephen," he whispered finally. "If you don't touch me, I will bite you harder than your spiders ever have."

Stephen chuckled faintly and wrapped his fingers around Jack once more. His strokes were light and soon had Jack moving restlessly against him. Speaking to him in a soft, soothing voice, as though to keep him distracted, Stephen soon replaced his fingers with his prick, pressing inside him.

He was content to let Stephen set the pace, though his knees were beginning to ache from being pressed into the hard deck beneath the blankets. He surged up against him with soft, muffled grunts, keeping as silent as he could. Stephen groaned helplessly as he pushed forward, withdrew, pushed forward again, biting his lip to try to stifle the sound as he finally buried himself inside Jack's body.

Jack was not so successful in hushing his own cry, though he quickly snatched at a piece of blanket and pressed it to his mouth. His hips rocked instinctively forward and back, trying to alleviate the pressure which turned suddenly into powerful delight as Stephen struck deep within him at a different angle, and he had to quiet himself again.

Groaning with him, Stephen stroked Jack's prick as he plunged deep inside repeatedly after withdrawing nearly all the way. He thrust in a faster, harder rhythm, gasping Jack's name over and over. Jack kept his head down, stifling what would have been increasingly loud cries and urgent pleas. He wavered between pleasure and fear at Stephen's lack of restraint, shuddering at his unexpected abandon. "Love," moaned Stephen again, "I -- oh!" He shuddered hard, hips moving in quick stacatto thrusts before he spent himself, choking back a cry.

Jack could feel it coming, the quick jerks of Stephen's prick inside him and the sudden swelling, and it drove him desperately into Stephen's palm, tearing at the blanket with his teeth; a few moments later he was pouring out his release as well, shuddering with the effort not to shout it and thrashing against the deck in delight. Stephen remained kneeling behind Jack for another few moments, twitching and shuddering. Then, reluctantly, he slipped free, and all but collapsed at Jack's side, staring blissfully at him.

Once he had caught his breath, Jack turned his head, smiled and reached for Stephen's hand, lacing their fingers together. Returning the smile, Stephen squeezed his hand. "How I love you," he whispered.

Jack found that he could not catch his breath for the lump in his throat. "And I you, my dear," he gasped in reply.

Stephen moved to press against him once more, slipping an arm over Jack's side. His lashes fluttered on Jack's skin like the legs of a spider, but Jack felt only creeping languor at the feeling. "I believe," said Stephen softly, "that I shall never let you go."

"Are you certain that you do not miss your spiders?" teased Jack. "For if you wish to cradle them to your chest, I shall not keep you here." For answer he felt a tickling up his side, but when he tried to jerk away from it he found only Stephen's fingers wickedly taunting him, and returned to sighing his contentment.


End file.
